C.J. Gardner-Johnson had his first visit to the Mercedes-Benz SuperDome since the New Orleans Saints traded him two years ago. Gardner-Johnson kept his cool throughout the week in facing his former team, but had a few things to say after the Philadelphia Eagles 15-12 win.
There was some talking after the Eagles victory, some directed at Saints quarterback Derek Carr. “They ain’t no contenders, they’re pretenders. They got Derek Carr, remember that,” Gardner-Johnson said afterward, via NFL Network.
“We knew he [Carr] was gonna give us one all day,” Gardner-Johnson said, via PHLY. “We got the best defensive line, best secondary, best front seven in the league right now. And I’m popping it. I’m popping it because at the end of the day y’all said we was down and out last week. Now look at ya now.”
C.J. Gardner-Johnson unplugged… pic.twitter.com/nVh4Y48o8U
— Zach Berman (@ZBerm) September 22, 2024
Gardner-Johnson was far from finished. When mentioned the Saints had the top offense in the league, he responded, “Top what?”
“We keep receipts,” Gardner-Johnson said. “I told y’all in the locker room. See y’all Sunday. I told y’all the day before. They got rid of me. I ain’t getting rid of them. It’s still in me. It’s still tatted on me.”
Still fielding questions, Gardner-Johnson had more to day about the Saints’ No. 1 offense.
“It (was) only Week 2,” Gardner-Johnson said. “How can you be the best offense, best team, (in) only two weeks played? We still got 16 weeks to go? At the end of the day, we just gotta tune out the noise, understand who we were, and go out there and play good ball. That’s what happened.”
Gardner-Johnson was also upset about the hit by Saints defensive tackle Khristian Boyd that took wide receiver DeVonta Smith out of the game with a concussion.
“Man, that’s the dirtiest s—- I ever saw in football, bro.”
Former Saint C.J. Gardner-Johnson reacts to the hit that injured DeVonta Smith. pic.twitter.com/mXKfcYXDMH
— Tim McManus (@Tim_McManus) September 22, 2024
“Man, that’s the dirtiest shit I ever saw in football, bro,” Gardner-Johnson said, via ESPN. “Y’all saw forward progress was stopped. If you are gonna take a cheap shot at one of our key players, it show you what type of team that is. They’re front-runners. That ain’t got nowhere in football.”
There seems to be no love lost between Gardner-Johnson and his time with the Saints. Gardner-Johnson credited the Eagles victory as a team over his former team.
“At the end of the day my team did this one,” Gardner-Johnson said. “It wasn’t me. Our team came together. A couple guys went down, a couple guys spoke up, and a couple guys understood the task at hand.”
